Mail-bag catcher and deliverer.



No. 852,860. PATENTED MAY 7, 1907.

D. R. WAY. MAIL BAG GA'TGHER AND DELIVERER.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 26. 1906.

s sums-SHEET 1.

fwer zor' Q 1n: NORRIS PETERS C0,, WASHINGYON, n. c.

PATENTED MAY 7, 1907.

" D. R. WAY.

MAIL BAG CATGHBR AND DELIVERER.

AIIIPLICATION FILED BB 20. 1906.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

' Inventor" m: NORRIS PETERS co, -wAsmuc1-nu, uv c4 PATENTED MAY 7,19,07.

. D. R. WAY.

MAIL BAG OATGHBR AND DELIVERER.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 2a. 1906.

' a SHEETS-SHEET s.

I" 1" i .1 W

lrwez DAVID R.,WAY, OF FAIRFIELD, IOWA. I),

MAIL-BAG CATCHER AND DELIVERER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 7, 1907.

Application filed December 26,1906. Serial No. 349,517.

To all whmn it may concern:

Be it known that 1, DAVID R. WAY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Fairfield, in the county of Jefferson, and in the State ofIowa, have invented a certain new and useful Mail-Bag Catcher andDeliverer, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a mail bag catcher anddeliverer of simple, durable and inexpensive construction so arrangedthat the operator may conveniently and easily place any desirable numberof mail bags onthe support within the car and then manually move thesupport to position projecting through the car door opening, and furtherto provide a device to be attached to a stationary support at the sideof a railway track designed to support a mail bag in the path of thedevice carried by the car and to provide a swinging arm on thestationary support provided with means for catching the mail bagssupported by the device within the car and as soon as the bags are thusdelivered, the said arm will swing against a yielding pressure until themomentum of the bags has been overcome, whereupon the arm with its mailbags will slowly and gradually drop to the ground and remain somedistance away from the track.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combinationof the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated areattained, as hereinafter'more fully set forth, pointed out in my claimsand illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 shows aperspective view of the complete mail bag catcher and delivererembodying my invention. Fig. 2 shows a detail view of a portion of a carand a part of my device that is carried by the car in position thereinwith a mail bag supported thereby. Fig. 3 shows an enlarged detailsectional view illustrating the means for adjustably supporting the armsfor engaging the lower ends of the mail bags carried by the devicewithin the car. Fig. 4 shows a detail plan view of the upper arm carriedby the standard within the car. Fig. 5 shows an enlarged 'detailsectional view on the line 55 of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 shows a detail plan viewof the outer end portion of the arm on the stationary standard. Fig. 7shows an enlarged detail view partly in section illustrating the hookson the upper arm carried by the standard in the car and theirarrangement with relation to the shield and the eccentric shaft. Fig. 8shows an inverted lan view of the rear portion of the arm carried by thestandard at the side of the track. Fig. 9 shows a plan view of same.Fig. 10 shows an enlarged detail sectional view through a part of thestandard at the side of the track and through the arm mounted on saidstandard, and Fig. 11 shows a detail perspective view of the automaticclamping member at the forward end of the arm carried by the standard atthe side of the track.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, I shall first describe the partof the device that is arranged at the side of the track.

The reference numeral 10 indicates a post or standard provided with abrace 11. At the top of the standard 10 is an arm 12 pivoted to swing ina vertical plane and having its forward end extended to a point adjacentto a railway track. On the rear end of the arm is a weight 13 designedto elevate the forward end of the arm when said forward end is free.However, when a mail bag is placed on the forward end, the weightthereof'will overbalance the weight 13. A rope 14 is attached to therear end of the arm 12 and to the bottom of the standard 10 forsupporting the said arm in a horizontal position.

vA rope 15 is also attached to the arm 12,

whereby its forward end may be drawn downwardly. On the forward end ofthe arm 12 is a hook 16 designed to support a mail bag.

At about the central portion of the standard 10, I have mounted arotatable collar 17, its downward movement being limited by thestationary collar 18 on the standard. Keyed to the standard above thecollar 17 is a ratchet wheel 19. Fixed to the rotatable collar 17 is anarm comprising two members 20 and 21 spaced apart and extendedhorizontally. The outer ends of these members are connected by the bolt22. This arm is normally held in a position projecting straightforwardly toward the track by means of two springs, the upper one 23being fixed to and wound upon the standard 10 and provided with aforwardly projecting arm 24 to engage one side of/said arm and the lowerspring 25 being fixed to and wound upon the standard 10 and providedwith an arm 26 engage the opposite side of said arm. 1

end of the arm member 32.

this arrangement, it is obvious that the swinging arm may have apressure'exerted upon it from either side that will cause it to yieldand swing upon the standard. The tension of the spring toward the sideto which it is moving will increase as the arm moves away from thetrack. The advantage of this arrangement is that when a number of heavymail bags are delivered from a car to the said arm, the arm will yieldand swing around on the standard and gradually and slowly come to astandstill. In this connection it is desirable that means be providedfor preventing the swinging arm from returning to aposition adjacent tothe track. For this purpose, I have provided on each of the parts and 21a sliding rod 27 mounted in the supports 28 and each provided with anextensible coil spring 30 fixed at one end to the rod 27 and its otherend engaging one of the supports 28. Connected with each rod 27 is apawl 31 to engage the ratchet wheel 19. Both of these pawls are normallyheld in such position that the swinging arm may move from positionadjacent to the track around the standard toward the side opposite fromthe pawl that is in engagement with the ratchet wheel, but the saidswinging arm will be prevented from returning by the pawl engaging theratchet wheel. Obviously the arm could not swing if both pawls were inengagement with the ratchet wheel. I have, therefore, provided means forautomatically holding either one of said pawls out of engagement withthe ratchet wheel as follows: Mounted between the arm members 20 and 21is a central arm member 32 pivoted to the bolt 22 and normally standingbetween the arm members 20 and 21, its forward end being projected aconsiderable distance beyond the arm members 20 and 21. The downwardmovement of the rear end of the arm 32 is limited by a cross piece 33fixed to the rearportions of the arm members 20 and 21. An adjustableweight 34 is mounted on the rear On the forward end of the arm member 32are two bearings 35 in which a rock shaft 36 is mounted. The forward endof this rock shaft is provided with mail bag gathering and deliveringdevices, hereinafter more particularly described.

On the rear end of the rock sh aft is a laterally projectin arm 37.Mounted on the forward end of each of the members 20 and 21 is a bellcrank lever 38 having the rods 27 attached to their upper ends andhaving their lower ends extended to position to be engaged by the arm 37so that when the rock shaft is at one limit of its movement, it willengage the downwardly projecting portion of the bell crank lever 38 onone side of the arm and leave the other lever free and the lever that isthus engaged will be held in position with the pawl on the same side outof engagement with the ratchet wheel 19. For instance in Fig. 9 of thedrawings, the arm 37 is shown to be in'engagement with the bell cranklever 38 at the bottom of the figure thus holding the pawl 31 at thebottom of the figure out of engagement with the ratchet wheel. This willpermit the swingingarm to have its forward end move downwardly as shownin said figure, but not upwardly, while if the arm 37 were reversed andplaced in engagement with the bell crank lever 38 at the top of saidfigure, then the upper pawl will be held out of engagement with theratchet and the lower pawl permitted to engage the ratchet Wheel, thusallowing the swinging arm to move upwardly, as shown in said figure, butnot downwardly. At the forward end of the rock shaft 36, I have formed amail bag receiving hook and also a mail bag supporting hook.

The mail bag receiving hook is indicated by the numeral 39 and comprisestwo sides converging toward the closed end of the hook and at the outerextremity of the hook 39 is a mail bag supporting hook 40 extendedsubstantially at right angles to the shaft 36 and arranged to standdirectly beneath the hook 16 on the arm 12. I have also provided meansfor automatically clutching and re taining mail bags within the hook 39as follows: Slidingly mounted on the arm member 32 beside the shaft 36is a rod 41 having a forked forward end provided with trunnions 42extending in opposite directions. Pivotally mounted upon these trunnionsis a bag engaging device formed of a single piece of wire having acurved portion 43 to overlap the closed end of the hook and a part 44 tostand adjacent to the rear member of the hook formed on the forked endof the rod 41 is a lug 45 to engage a lug 46 on the rock shaft 36. Acoil spring 47 is mounted on the rod 41 with one end in engagement withthe rod and the other end in engagement with a stop fixed to the arm 36,said spring tending to project the rod forwardly when released. Theparts are so proportioned that the lugs 45 and 46 are normally inengagement and the mail bag engaging device normally stands in theposition shown in Fig. 6. When a mail bag enters the hook it will strikethe part 43 and move-it toward-the closed end of the hook. This willcause the rod 41 to spring sufficiently to permit the hook 45 to passforwardly beyond the hook 46, which being forced forwardly by the spring47 and on account of the pivotal arrangement of the mail bag engagingdevice on the rod 41, the entire device will press the mail bags firmlyagainst the forward side of the hook 39, thereby firmly retaining themail bags in the hook. Two supporting rods 48 are fixed to a rotatablecollar 49 at the upper part of the standard 1.0 and are attached to theforward ends of the swinging arm members 20 and 21.

IEO

In practical use with this portion of the' device and assuming the partsto be arranged as shown in Fig. 1, it is obvious that when a carcarrying mail bag catch device passes the stationary standard, the mailbag supported on the hooks 16 and. will be caught and removed by themail bag catcher on the car. As soon as it is removed the forward end ofthe arm 12 will swing upwardly out of the way, thus avoiding thepossibility of accident to passengers on the cars. At the time mail bagis caught by the car. one or more mail bags from the car will be forcedinto the open end of the hook 39. When they strike the loop 43, theywill cause the mail bag retainer to automatically grip or clutch themail bags in the hook 39. The momentum imparted to the swinging arm bythe mail bags will cause the swinging arm to. bodily move in the samedirection as the car from which the bags were received and away from thetrack. This movement will be opposed by one of the springs 23 or 25 sothat the swinging arm will move around on the standard 10 until themomentum of the mail bags is overcome by the spring delivering thismovement. The arm member 32 will drop downwardly because the weight ofthe mail bags is greater than the weight 34 on the rear end of said mailmember and the mail bags will slowly descend to the ground at a pointdistant from the car tracks. The ratchet device on the swinging arm andupright will prevent the swinging arm from returning to positionadjacent to the track. Assuming that the device is to be set to receivemail bags from a car coming in the opposite direction, then the operatormanually turns the shaft 36 so that the open end of the hook 39 standsin the opposite direction from that shown in Fig. 1. This turning of thehook will automatically operate the ratchet devices in such a way thatthe arm may have a swinging movement in the opposite direction and willbe prevented from returning to normal position after such movement.

I shall next describe the device carried by the mail car.

The reference numeral indicates a base to be attached to the car floorand provided with a ball bearing groove in which are the bearing balls51. A tubular standard 52 is mounted in said base with its lower end inengagement with said bearing balls. At the upper end of the tubularstandard is a standard member 53 telescopically connected with the part52 and made adjustable by a set screw 54. Attached to the top of the caris a bearing plate having a projection 55 to receive the upper end ofthe part 53. By this means the standard may be quickly and eas ilyremoved from or attached to the devices on the car. I preferably provideeach car with base plates 50 and bearing devices 55 near each side ofeach doorway in the car and I remove the standard 52 to any one of theseattaching devices as the nature of the case may demand. a handle 56 bywhich the standard may be rotated.

Fixed to the top of the standard is a bracket 57 having thereon a hook58 designed to receive a mail bag supported upon the stationary device.At the outer portion of the hook 58 is a mail bag supporting device,hereinafter fully described. The hook 58 is provided with a device forretaining a mail bag thereon. This retaining device comprises a slidingshaft 59 on the bracket 57 having a coil 60 at its outer end and a loop61 to project across the closed end of the hook 58. A contraetible coilspring 62 is fixed at one end to the rod 59 and at its other end to apart of the hook 58 to normally project the retainingloop 61 across thehook 58. Formed on the bracket 57 is a lug 63 and on the rod 59 is amating lug 64. These lugs are normally in engagement and keep the loop61. in the position shown in Fig. 4. However, when a mail bag enters thehook 58 and. strikes the loop 61, it will bend the-rod 59 enough topermit the lug 64 to pass the lug 63 and thus permit the loop 61 to beprojected by its spring 62 across the hook 58 and against a mail bagcontained within said hook.

The device at the outer end of the hook 58 for supporting a number ofmail bags comprises a tubular casing 65 extended substantially at rightangles to the bracket 57 and in a horizontal plane. This casing isprovided with a number of slots 66 and eccen rically pivoted within thecasing is a shaft 67 having a rib 68 extended longitudinally of it.Mounted within the casing 65 is a series of hooks '69, each having aball 70 thereon and an arm 71. These hooks are projected through theslots 66 of the casing and the balls 70 engage the interior of thecasing, thus providing for universal movement of hook 69. The arm 71normally projects inwardly into engagement with the shaft 67 and also inengagement with the rib 68 thereon. Obviously when this shaft 67 is heldin the position shown in Fig. 5, all of the hooks 69 are supported inthe position shown in said figure ready to receive a mail bag.Furthermore if the shaft 67 is moved on its pivot in a direction to movethe rib 68 upwardly, then the hooks 69 will be lowered. to thus permit amail bag thereon to he discharged. Furthermore the ball support for thehooks Pivotod tothe standard 52 is provides means to permit a slightlateral movement of each hook to thereby avoid the possibility of a mailbag catching and. engaging the hook when it is inclined downwardly asrequired to discharge the bag. I have provided for automaticallyactuating the shaft 67 to release the hook 69 at the proper time asfollows: Pivoted to the outer end of the hook 58 is a trip lever 72extending across the open end of said hook. Pivoted to this lever 72 isa rod 73 having its other end pivoted to a lug 74 on the shaft 67. Whenthe lever 72 is engaged by a mail bag previous to its entering the hook58, said mail bag will operate the trip lever 72 and cause it to pushupon the rod 73 and thus raise the rib 68 on the shaft 67 and permit allof the hooks 69 to move downwardly. In Fig. 7 of the drawings, thedotted lines show the limit of lateral movement of the hooks 69 on thesupport balls thereof, said movement being limited by the width of theslots 66 through which said hooks project.

The means for supporting the lower ends of the mail bags upon thestandard within the car comprising a bracket 75 fixed to the standard 52and having two horizontally ar-' ranged bars 76 and 77 thereon. A brace78 is connected to the casing on the upper bracket and also to the upperhorizontal bar 76 for the purpose of bracing said parts. Supportedbetween the bars 76 and 77 is a number of vertical rods 79. On each ofthese rods is a mail bag supporting arm capable of being adjustablysecured on said vertical rod as follows: As shown in Fig. 3, I haveprovided a sleeve 80 slidingly mounted on the rod 79. Within the collaris a pivot pin 81 and mounted upon the pivot pin 8]. is an arm 82-having a cam shaped end 83, said end being designed to engage the rod79. By means of this device, the arm 82 when extended below a horizontalline will hold. the cam 83 in such position that the sleeve 80 may befreely moved up and down on the rod 79. When the arm 82 is at or near ahorizontal position, then the cam 83 forcibly engages the rod 79 to suchextent as to firmly hold the sleeve 80 in position. In practical use theportion of the apparatus that is carried by the car operates as follows:\When it is desired. to prepare the delivering apparatus for deliveringa number of mail bags, the operator first places the hooks 69 in theposition shown in Fig. 5. This is done by manually moving the trip lever72 to position with the pivot point of the rod 73 past the pivotalcenter of the lever 72, as shown in Fig. 4. This will hold the hooks 69firmly in position until the trip lever 72 is released. The standard 52is in position with all of its attachments contained wholly within thecar so that the operator may easily place a mail bag on the first of thehooks 69, then he grasps the corresponding arm 82 and places its lowerend in engagement with the mail bag and then moves it downwardly untilthe mail bag is tightly stretched so that it cannot be accidentallyremoved from its supports by the wind or the movement of the car. All ofthe mail bags to be delivered. at the next sta-. tion are attached tothe hooks and arms in the same manner. Then when approaching thestationary part of the apparatus, the operator grasps the lever 56 andswings the mail bags to the position shown in Fig. 1. When the carreaches the stationary part of the apparatus, the mail bag held on saidstationary apparatus will first strike the trip lever 72. At about thesame instant, the mail bags on the hooks 69 and arms 82 will be receivedinto the hook 39 of the stationary device. The mail bags received inboth of the hooks 39 and 58 will be automatically gripped and heldtherein and the standard in the car' will turn inwardly on account ofthe impact of the mail bag received thereon. At the same time, theswinging arm onv the stationary device will move away from the car andthe arm 12- will be elevated so that the entire stationary device willbe held in such position that itwill not be dangerous topassengers onthe train and the mail bag caught by the car will be moved into theinterior of the car where it can easily be detached from the catchingdevice.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent of the United States, therefor is 1. In a device of theclass described, the combination of an arm arranged to swing in ahorizontal plane, means for normally holding the arm in one position andfor permitting it to swing under yielding pressure in either directionand a ratchet device capable of being set to position for locking theswinging arm against movement in either direction.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination of an armarranged to swing in a horizontal plane, means for normally holding thearm in one position and for permitting it to swing under yieldingpressure in either direction, a stationary ratchet wheel,

two spring actuated pawls carried by said arm to engage the ratchetwheel and means for holding either of said pawls out of engagement withthe ratchet wheel.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination of an arm mountedto swing in a horizontal plane, a reversible mail bag receiving hookcarried by said arm and means automatically actuated upon a reversal ofthe hook for locking the arm against movement in a direction toward theopen end of the hook.

4. In a device of the class described, the combination of a standard, anarm mounted on the standard, and capable of swinging in a horizontalplane, two springs arranged to rotate the arm and opposed to each other,a ratchet wheel fixed to a stationary support, two spring actuated.pawls engaging opposite sides of said ratchet wheel, a reversible mailbag receiving hook carried by the arm and means actuated by reversal ofthe hook for throwing one of the pawls out of engagement with theratchet wheel.

5. In a device of the class described, the

combination of a standard, an arm rotatably mounted thereon, two springsarranged to rotate said arm and opposing each other, a ratchet wheel onthe standard, two spring actuated pawls on the arm engaging oppositesides of the ratchet wheel, a bell crank lever connected with each pawl,a reversible mail bag receiving hook mounted on the arm and an armconnected with 'hookand designed to engage either of said bellcrank'levers and operated to move its pawl out of engagement with theratchet wheel.

6. In a device of the class described, the combination of a standard, anarm member pivoted to said standard to swing in a horizontal plane, asecond arm member pivoted to the first to swing in a vertical plane andof such length that when its outer end swings downwardly it will strikeupon the ground or base to which the standard is attached and a mail bagcatcher supported on the outer end of the said second arm member.

7. In a device of the class described, the combination of a standard, aswinging arm rotatably mounted upon the standard and comprising two armmembers spaced apart and a third arm member pivotally mounted betweenthem to swing in a vertical plane, means for limiting the downwardmovement of the rear end of the latter arm member, an adjustable weightattached to the inner end of the latter arm member, a reversible mailbag receiving hook mounted on the latter arm member, a crank armconnected with said hook, two springs arranged to rotate the swingingarm in opposite directions, a ratchet wheel on the stationary support,two spring actuated pawls carried by the swinging arm and designed toengage opposite sides of said ratchet wheel, a bell crank leverconnected with each pawl, said lever designed to be engaged by the crankarm on the mail bag receiving hook.

8. In a device of the class described,the combination of a standard, anarm pivoted to the top of standard to swing in a vertical plane, aweight on the rear end thereof and a mail bag receiving hook on theforward end thereof, a rope attached to the rear end of the arm and to astationary support and a rope attached to the forward portion of thearm.

9. In a device of the class described, the combination of a mail bagsupporting arm, a hook pivotally connected therewith and having pointsextended in opposite directions said hook formed with a notch on oneside of its pivotal point and a spring in said notch. normally holdingthe hook in position.

10. In a device of the class described, the combination of a mail bagreceiving hook, a clutching and retaining device, a spring for normallyforcing same across the hook and a trip member normally extended acrossthe hook to be engaged by a mail bag in the hook and designed to releasethe spring when so engaged.

11. In a device of the class described, the combination of a mail bagreceiving hook, a

rod slidingly mounted adjacent to the hook, a

spring normally forcing said rod toward the hook, a trip device normallyholdlng the spring under tension and the mail bag clamping and retainingdevice attached to said rod and having a part thereof extended acrossthe hook to be engaged by a mail bag and to re lease the spring when thetrip device is so engaged.

, 12. In a device of the class described, the combination of a mail bagreceiving hook, a rod slidingly mounted thereon, a lug on said rod, alug on the hook, a spring normally holding the rod toward the hook and amail bag gripping and retaining device encircling the closed portion ofthe hook and arranged adjacent to one side of the hook and pivoted .tothe said rod, said parts so arranged that when a mail bag enters thehook and engages the clutching and retaining device it will disengagesaid lugs from each other and permit the spring to force the mail bagclutching and retaining device across the hook.

13. In a device of the class described, the combination of a base platehaving a ball bearing chamber therein and open at its upper portion, aceiling plate having a downward projection thereon, a tubular standarddesigned to enter the base plate and engage the bearing balls, anadjustable tube in the top of the standard to receive said projection inthe ceiling plate.

14. In a device of the class described, the combination of a base platehaving a ball bearing chamber therein and open at its upper portion aceiling plate having a down ward projection thereon, a tubular standarddesigned to enter the base plate and engage the bearing balls, anadjustable tube in the top of the standard to receive said projection inthe ceiling plate and a pivoted handle on the tubular standard.

15. In a device of the class described, the combination of a standard,an arm thereon, a series of hooks arranged in the same horizontal planeand carried by said arm, a. bracket connected with the standard belowsaid arm and a corresponding series of mail bag engaging arms on saidbracket.

16. In a device of the class described, the combination of a standard,an arm thereon, a series of hooks arranged in the same horizontal planeand carried by said arm, a bracket connected with the standard belowsaid arm and a corresponding series of mail bag engaging arms on saidbracket, and means for vertically adjusting said mail bag engaging armsindependently.

17. In a device of the class described, the combination of a standard,an arm thereon,

a series of hooks arranged in the same horizontal plane and carried bysaid arm, a bracket connected with the standard below said arm and acorresponding series of mail bag engaging arms on said bracket and meansfor automatically tilting said supporting hooks.

18. In a device of the class described, the combination of a standard tobe carried by a car, a mail bag receiving hook carried by the standard,a number of pivoted mail bag supporting hooks connected with saidreceiving having a rib to engage said hooksand support them in positionfor holding mail bags and means for automatically tilting the shaft tosimultaneously release and drop said hooks.

20. In a device of the class described, the combination of a standard tobe carried by a car, a mail bag receiving hook carried by the standard,a casing supported by said hook and provided with a series of slots, anumber of mail bag supporting hooks projected through said slots andeach formed with a ball within the casing and an arm projected inwardlyfrom the ball, a shaft pivoted eccentrically within the casing andhaving a rib to engage the inwardly projecting arms, a trip arm pivotedto the casing and projected across the mail bag receiving hook and a rodconnecting said trip arm with the said shaft for automatically lockingthe shaft when the trip arm is moved.

21. In a device of the class described, the combination of a standard-tobe carried by a car, a mail bag receiving hook carried by the standard,a casing supported by said hook and provided with a series of slots, anumber of mail bag supporting hooks projected through said slots andeach formed with a ball within the casing and an arm projecting inwardlyfrom the ball, a shaft pivoted eccentrically within the casing andhaving a rib to engage the inwardly projecting arms, a trip arm pivotedto the casing and projected across the mail bag receiving hook and a rodconnecting said trlp arm with the said shaft for automatically lockingthe shaft when the trip arm is moved, said trip arm and connecting rodso arranged that the rod will pass the pivotal point of the trip leverwhen in osiitlion1 projecting across the mail bag receiving '22. I11 adevice of the class described, the combination of a standard to becarried by a car, a bracket thereon, a series of vertical rods carriedby the bracket, a sleeve 011 each rod, a pin in each sleeve and an armpivoted to each pin and having a cam thereon to engage the rod and clampthe sleeve thereto when the arm is extended in a substantiallyhorizontal position.

DAVID R. VVAY.-

I/Vitnesses S. F. CHRISTY, J. RALPH ORWIG.

